Record changing mechanism for phonographs



Oct. T. w. SMALL RECORD CHANGING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 5, 1939 NY 55 f/VTOE w JMAML THOMWJ' PIE.

Oct. 31, 1950 T. w. SMALL 2,527,586

RECORD CHANGING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS Original Filed Oct. 5, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 //V VE/V TOE O 0 O "Aw/m s/v/w. mar/u #vaae,

ATTORNEYJ,

Oct. 31, 1950 T. w. SMALL 2,527,586

RECORD CHANGING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS Original Filed Oct. 5, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IIIlI/I/A IIIIIEW'IIIIM THOMAS W. SM/9L L 5 Y of C 2550 sy F g ATTORNEY Oct. 31, 1950 T. w. SMALL 2,527,536

RECORD CHANGING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS Original Filed Oct. 5, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IIINIIII J/Y l/illlllh VII/I I/A/IIII/I/II/I/II II 11/ [J III- 70 f 5 //v vi/vroe ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 31, 1 950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-[CE RECORD GHANGINGJMEGHANISMI roe PHONOGRAPHS Thomas W. Small, deceased, late of Fort Wayne,- 11111., by Anna Small Koehlingen-exeeutrix; Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Farnsworth Research Gorporation, a corporation of Indiana Original application October 5, 1939, Serial No.- 298,092. Divided and this application June 26, 1944, Serial'No. 542,102

Claims.

I This invention relates to an automatic record changer for disk record phonographs wherein the stack of records is supported above the turntable,

the lowermost record of the stack being released to drop by gravity upon the turntable for reproduction, being a division of application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 298,092, filed October 5, 1939, for Record Changing Mechanism for Phonographs, Patent No. 2,371,361, granted March 13, 1945.

The principal object of the invention is to enable a selective record changing mechanism to be producedwith a minimum of working parts so as to be capable of economical production and take up little space in the phonograph. Thus, the invention is primarily directed toward improving upon record changers of this type in the direction of simplified mechanism.

This invention, for illustration, is shown as applied to a mechanism for releasing the lowermost record while supporting the superimposed records. This is accomplished by an extension of the centering pin so as to provide an eccentric portion, coupled withmeans for lowering one of the supports to permit the center hole of the lowermost record to be engaged by the eccentric portion, which, in its rotary movement, willshift the record laterally to release its Opposite supported sides alternately.

This invention is primarily directed to -the structure for actuating the record changing" mechanism through its cycle of movement following completion of the playing of one record toreplace it with another record to be played.

This is accomplished by associating a mutilated cam gear with a driving pinion continuously ro-'"' tatable with the turntable, so arranged that during playing of a record the pinion and mutilated portion of the cam gear are in registry. At the completion of the record, through the action of the reproducer, a coupling between the drive and" cam gear is brought into play to shift the cam gear into driving engagement with the pinion, whereupon it will be rotated through one revolution to effect the change of records and then come to rest upon its mutilated portion register ing again with the drive pinion.

A further feature of the invention resides in a new and novel trip mechanism for initiating the record changing cycle upon the reproducer moving inward with a spiral groove or oscillating by engagement with an eccentric groove. This is accomplished by a pair of'interacting contactsfor closing a circuit through atripping solenoid, one of said contacts being mounted on-the end of a hook movable with the tone armwhile the other .contact is On afreely moving pivoted arm carried withinthehook. ,Thus, when the tone arm is moved inwardly by a spiral groove,'it engages the arm and moves it into contact with the end of thehook. ,Whenthe tone arm is given a reversemovement byan eccentric groove, it moves the hooked end thereofbackwards to engage the contact on the arm.

,The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the iollowing description and claims:

Fig. 1 is a plan viewof the record changer with the unplayed records removed.

, Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof showing. a group of records supported over the turntable, and. on the turntable in playing position. Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of the record changer. .--,-Fig. 4 is a bottorn plan view showing the .underside thereof. 7

Fig. 5 is a-partialview showing a side elevation of the-record supports for twelve inch records.

- Figs. 6 and 7 .are enlarged illustrative figures showing the arious positions of the record when released.

Fig.8 is a topplan view of portions of the actuating mechanism I showing them in position duringthe playing of arecord.

1 Fig. 9 is a side elevation, partially in section,

ofportions of-the actuating mechanism during the playing of a record.

- Fig. 10 1s a view'oi ,the record trip arms when in record changing position.

Fig. 11 is the same as Fig. 10 in record playing position.

Fig. 12 is thesame as Fig. 11 upon reverse ;movement of the tone arm by an eccentric record groove.

Fig. 13 shows theposition of the arms. when actuated by a spirallead-in groove in the record. Fig. 14 is al-wiringdiagram showing the. circuits and switches.

. In the drawingsthere is shown a record changwing and reproducingimechanismincluding abase plate It) supporting a horizontally rotatable :turntable ll carrying one or: more records I2 thereon,

the uppermost record of the. group carriedby the turntable being-positioned for reproduction. The unplayed records 12 are supported in=a stack or group immediately above the turntable and spaced therefrom inpositionufor release of .the

lowermost record-for permitting it' to drop by gravity into playing position on the-turntable. Associated withthe turntable-there is the usual reproducer 13 mounted-0n thunder the tone arm I4.

The unplayed records I2 are centered in stacked formation above the turntable by an overhead centering pin l5 carried by a swinging arm [6 pivoted at its supported end upon an upright standard I! extending upwardly from the base plate 10.

With the unplayed group of records [2 positioned by the pin I5, their opposed peripheral edges are supported by the plates I81; and l9a, provided said records are of the ten inch size. If said records are of the twelve inchsize, they are supported by the plates I81; and l9b, as illustrated in Fig. 5. v

The plates lBa and I8!) are integral, being rotatably supported at the proper height upon a post 20 slidable and rotatable within a tubular standard 2!, said standard being supported upon the base plate H]. The post 20, being both slidably and rotatably mounted in the standard, is held in its lower position by a spring 22 and is provided with oppositely-extending lugs 23 at its upper end which are seatable in the notches 24 of the standard. Thus, said supporting plates may be turned to any desired 90 degrees angle and locked in position. When positioned to sup- I! upon a horizontally extending rod 25 sup-.

ported by the brackets 26 carried by the shafts 21. Thus, supporting plate [9a may be swung to a lower position for supporting ten inch records, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or swung upwardly to a vertical position out of the way, so as to expose,;;40

the plate [9b which is positioned for supporting twelve inch records, as shown in Fig. 5. Plate 19b is supported directly upon the shafts 2'! which are slidable with and guided by a cross head 28 within the standard [1. with the supporting plates carried thereby are normally maintained in uppermost position under tension of the springs 29, in which position they support the unplayed records free of the record Said shafts;

periphery of the overhead centering pin 15. Thus, the head 35 rotates with the turntable through a circular path transverse of the center hole of the lowermost unplayed record and eccentrically of the axial center of pin l5.

The unplayed records [2 are normally carried by their supporting plates in a plane above the head 35 so as not to be engaged thereby. But when the plates [9a, [9b are lowered by the action of the lever 3 l, the lowermost record of the group drops to a position where its center hole is engaged by the head 35. The eccentric movement of said head engaging with the record will slide it first to the left (Fig. 2), so that its right-hand edge will disengage the supporting plates [9a or 7, [9b. Its left-hand edge will still be supported by the plates I8a or [8?) until the right-hand side drops down on the more extensively curved camming portion 34 which will act to throw the record to the right for disengaging its left-hand edge from said last-mentioned plates. The record then continues to oscillate by its engagement with the curved portion 34 and to move downwardly, but restrained by the friction resulting from the said curved portion, until it reaches the centering pin portion 33, whereupon said record will be properly centered in playing position. This movement is diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7.

For driving the record changing mechanism, there is provided the usual electric motor 36 having a drive shaft 31 carrying a spur gear 38 adapted to mesh with a cam driving gear 39. Shaft 31 has a direct drive connection with the turntable and centering pin 33. At one point in the periphery of the cam gear 39 the teeth are removed, as shown in Fig. 8. Said cam gear 39 is formed about the periphery of the cam member 40 suspended upon a shaft 4| extending downwardly from the underside of the base plate [0. The motor 36 is similarly supported from the underside of the base plate I!) by the hangers 42.

' engaged by pin 43 and when in another position releasing member, as hereinafter described. 1,

The lower ends of said shafts 21 slidably extend through thebase plate I0 and have their lower ends connected below said plate to a cross bar 30 which has its upper surface engaged by one end of a pivoted lever 3i (Figs. 3 and 4);; Said lever is pivotally supported by a suitable bracket 32 depending from the underside of the base plate It]. The opposite end of said lever is positioned to be engaged and actuated by the master cam, as hereinafter described, for press-- ing the bar 39 downwardly against the tension of springs 29 to lower the supporting plates Mia and I9?) when the bottom record is to be released.

The centering pin portion 33 of the turntable is horizontally displaced (Fig. 2) to the left of pin [5 and extends upwardly in the usualcylindrical form to the height at which the played records may accumulate upon the turntable.

However, said pin is prolonged in curved formats.

tion to provide a hook-dike camming portion 34 terminating in a head 35 the vertical axis of which is horizontally displaced with respect to that of portion 33. As illustrated in Fig. 2, head 35 lies to one side of and immediately below the:

it will be raised above said pin so as to be cleared. Said finger extends into position to be engaged by said pin adjacent that portion of the gear 39 indicated at 45 which is mutilated so as to have tween the spur gear and the cam gear.

no interengagement with the gear 38. By means of this arrangement, and wherein the shaft 31 and pin 43 are continuously rotating with the gear 38, when the finger 44 is elevated about its pivotal mounting out of the path of the rotating pin 43, there will be no driving engagement be- In this position the cam gear remains at rest so that the record changing mechanism will not be 0perated while a record is being reproduced through the rotation of the turntable driven by shaft 31.

Said finger 44 has its opposite end engaged by a bell crank lever 46 pivoted to the underside of the plate H1 at 47, which lever is actuated by a solenoid 48. With said bell crank lever 46 in normal position, the adjacent end of finger 44 is engaged thereunder so that the other end is held above the path of the pin 43, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. Upon actuation of said solenoid in a position to be struck by pin 43. H5

by the trip mechanism, bell crank 46 will be withdrawn from finger 44, whereupon it will stop When pin 43 strikes said finger, it partially rotates the cam seemed game suilicient to cause-its teethfto mesh -witlf those of the gear 38. Thereupon'th'e gear ie and cam 40 will be rotated-one revolutionpduiing' which rotation the finger 44 engages with a -de-' pending cam track 49 fixed to'theunderside-of and in that position it leaves ca-m-'track-49; but is simultaneously engaged under bell crank lever 46 which continues to hold its raised end out'of" the path of pin 43 until the solenoid 48 again'retracts the bell crank lever 46.- With said finger" 44 thus held out of the path of pin 43,*and at that pointthecam gear 39'beingmutilated, it willcome to rest during the next record playing operation. a I

By means of the above arrangement a simple 1 mechanism is utilized for driving the cam 40 a single revolution upon energizing thesolenoid 48 for actuating the record changingmechanism, said-cam and mechanism automatically coming to rest upon the completion of the cycle for permitting freerotation of the turntable and repr'o-' duction of I the record until the solenoid is again nergized upon the record being completed.

From'the above it will be noted that thecam 40 will bedriven one revolution upon actuation of the solenoid 48 and upon-completion of the' single revolution willcome to rest. The cam 40 acts to first elevate the tone arm 14 to lifttherepro ducer 13 from the record, swing the tone arm clear of the record, and then lowerthe record supporting plates [9a, 19b to cause the lowermost record to become. engaged by the head-35 for releasing it to drop into playing position. The'reupon the reproducer is returned to overlie the start of the record'and islowered-thereon.- The cam then comes to rest to permitreproduction of the record in the usual way untilthereproducer reaches the endof the record where it will cause the solenoid 48 to be energized-for again initiating the cycle of movement ofstsaid cam.

The first action caused by thecamwhen it 1 starts to revolve is effected by the cam surface 50 extending downwardly with which a roller' 5l engages and over which it rides during the rotation thereof. The roller 5| is mounted on a lever: 52 pivotally supportedintermediate its ends at l 53 by a depending ear extending downwardlyfrom thebase plate I0. The-opposite end of the lever from the roller supports a tone arm'raising pin I 54 vertically slidable in a suitable guide on-the base plate so that when elevated by? the lever," it

engages the underside of the tone arm l4 and raises it free of the record beingreproduced. The tone arm is pivotally mounted for such-move ment at 55 on a standard 56 supported from the 5 top of thebase plate [0. The weight of thetone arm maintains the roller 5| in contact-with the cam surface 50 and permitslowering' of the reproducer into playing position when-thecamallows the roller 5| to be raised under the tone arm I.

arm: The actuated end of the lever 5lis en-'- gaged by a-cam-surface 6| during rotation-of the cam 40,-forcing'the-engaged end of the lever out=- warms: and 'the engaging end of the lever wardly 'again's't the ear 59 forrotat'ing the shaft BO t 'Swing 'the reproducer' away from the rec-'- ord. This'movement swings the opposite end of ;the ear-59 against thefree end of a pivoted'arin 62-pivoted at 63 to 'the'underside of'the plate l0.- Saidarm is thereby'moved against the tension of a spring" -64 -having one end connected to the armand the other end anchored to'a plate 65. Thus,

64 as the cam'permits.

-' thetone-arm is-swung outwardly by the action of the camfil and is swung'inwardlyby the spring either ten or twelveinch records by the manually-2- operated'knob-BB which maybe turned within a bearing sleeve (and carries a shaft-68*at-its-* lower end which is oblong in cross section. The

arm 62 bears'ag'ainst'shaft 68' so that it is positioned thereby to limit the inward Swinging movement-of'the tone arm. Shaft 68 is so formed and positioned that when it is turned so that its a narrow edge is engaged by arm 62, the tone-arm of the reproducer will be swung back to position it for a twelve inch record. When the knob 66 is turned so' as'to present the broad side-of said shaft 68 to thearm 62, the spring 64 will move I I said arm inwardly a slightly greater distance, i

which in turn-will swing the reproducerinwardly toset 'it for a ten inch record.

After the tone arm has been thus swung clear T of the" record, a new record is released to drop into playing position on top of the turntable or reproduced record.- As above described, the bot- 1 tom record is released by lowering the plates l9a,

To dothis, the opposite end of extending camsurface 69. Thus, after the cam.

.membef 40is rotated sufliciently to cause the tone arm to be swung out of position, the cam surface: i 69 passes under the end of lever 3! to raise it and force the cross bar 30 downwardly to lower the records l2 and permit the-lowermost record to be engaged by the head 35. Immediately upon such engagement, said lever is released so that the springs2-9 return the supporting plates to normal position so that the remaining records will be supporte'd'free of the head 35.

For trippingthe mechanism at the end of the record byenergizing solenoid 48, there is pro vided a pair of contact members 10 and l I. When said members move'into electric contact, they close the circuit through the'solenoid 48. Mem ber 10 is supported by an arm 12 secured to shaft of thetone arm so as to swing therewith. The

member ll' is mounted upon an arm l3" freely" pivoted to swing in the same plane as arm 12,

Arm 72 carries an adjustable late 14 in position to engage arm 13. Said arm 13 normally extends between the plate- 14 and the contact 10 of the arm 12 so as to be embraced therebetween, as well as normally spaced therefrom. The radial length of arm 13 with respect to its pivotal mounting is substantially less than that of arm 12, whereby the contact H will travel through an arc of less radius than contact HI. This arrangement causes them to move toward and away from each other in a substantially radial direction during the course of their swin ing movement.

In Figs. 10 to 13, inclusive, the differentpo sitions-of'the contacts'are illustrated. Looking? upwardly fro'm"theunderside;in Fig; 10, the arm;

7! is shown wu' aw y l ec nter. iif lie; turntable by the tone arm to its maximum out ward position. The contact 10 is in engagement with the end of the insulated arm 13 and out of contact with contact ll. As thearm is moved inwardly during the playing of the record, as

shown in Fig. 11, arm 13 is disengaged by contact 70, but is pushed by plate 14. swinging movement continues, contact H moves toward alignment with contact 10. Toward the end of the record, as shown in Fig. 12, the con.- tacts are in alignment, but are still out of contact. However, if the needle runs into an eccentric groove, the swinging movement ofarm 12 will be reversed so that contact 10 will be moved into engagement with contact H to energize the solenoid.

If the needle is operating in a spiral groove record, the arms move to the position illustrated in Fig. 13, where the plate 14 finally pushes contact H into engagement with contact 10, due to the extreme inwardswinging of the tone arm by the spiral lead-in grooves. Thus, solenoid 48 will be energized through thereverse movement of the tone arm by an eccentric groove (Fig, 12), or by the extreme inward movement of the tone arm by a spiral groove (Fig. 13)

As shown in Fig. 14 an anti-chatter switch 15 is in series with contacts Ill, H. Said switch 15 is actuated by the short arm of bell crank lever 46 so that when saidlever is in normal position for retaining the finger 44 out of the path of pin 43, said switch is closed so as to complete the circuit through the solenoid upon contact of the trip 10, ll. But immediately upon the solenoid being energized by the trip, switch 15 is opened by said bell crank lever So that the circuit will be broken and thereby prevent chattering of the solenoid while the tone arm is being swung outwardly. For this purpose the released end of finger 44 engages the inner curved edge of lever 46 As their relative to hold it against the tension of spring 16 and thereby hold switch (5 open until the lever is disengaged by the, continued movement of the finger. crank lever to normal position to again engage finger 44 when it rides under cam 49, as well as .permit switch to close so that the trip switch may again complete the circuit.

In parallel with the trip switch and antichatter switch there is a reject switch 11 in the form of a button, shown in Fig. 1. By. closing switch 11 the solenoid will be actuated in the same manner as by the trip switch so as to initiate the record changing mechanism.

The motor 36 is in circuit with a hand-controlled snap switch 18 and also a hold-in switch 19 in parallel therewith. The hold-in switch is normally closed but is opened by the cam surface when the cam member 40 reaches the position wherein the tone arm is swung to its outermost position. Thus, when it is desired to stop the machine and discontinue its operation, the switch I8 may be moved to off position so as to break the circuit therethrough. However, the circuit through the motor will continue to be closed by the normally closed hold-in switch 13 until the tone arm is swung to its outer position, whereupon cam 80 will open said switch and break the circuit to motor 36 until the motor switch 18 is again moved to on position.

The invention claimed is: 1. In an automatic phonograph having a record supporting turntable, a pivotally mounted pickup arm and a record changing mechanism, a con- Thereafter spring 16 returns the bell,

8 tinuouslyrotating shaft having a driving iiieiii ber coupled therewith, a change-cycle control cam wheel operatively associated with said mechanism and said member and having a mutilated portion to render said member ineffective to operate the cam wheel when presented thereto, a projection attached to said driving member, a finger pivoted on said cam wheel ona horizontal axis and normally tending to drop into position for engagement by said projection to effect driving engagement between said driving member and cam wheel, a latch operatively associated with said finger normally to engage and hold said finger out of the path of rotation of said projection during record reproduction, and means coupled to said pickup arm and movable thereby into engagement with said latch to move said latch free-of said finger to permit said finger to move into engaging position with said projection.

2. In an automatic phonograph having a record supporting turntable, a pivotally mounted pickup arm and a record changing mechanism, a continuously rotating shaft, a pinion operatively associated with said shaft, a change-cycle control cam gear positioned relative to said pinion for meshing engagement therewith and operatively associated with said mechanism, said cam gear having a portion of its peripheral teeth removed for causing disengagement thereof with said pinion when said portion is presented thereto, a radially extending projection operatively associated with said pinion, and a member mounted on said cam gear for movement in a plane parallel to the aXis of said gear into the path of rotation of said projection for engagement thereby, whereby a partial revolution will be imparted to said cam gear to effect meshing engagement with said pinion.

-3. In an automatic phonograph having a record supporting turntable and a pivotally mounted pickup arm, a continuously rotating shaft, a pinion attached to said shaft, a change-cycle control cam gear positioned relative to said pinion for meshing engagement therewith, said cam gear having a portion of its peripheral teeth removed-for causing disengagement thereof with said pinion when said portion is presented thereto, mechanism operatively associated with and actuated by said cam gear durin one revolution thereof operable to place a record upon said turntable, a radially extending projection on said pinion, a member pivotally mounted on said cam gear and movable in a plane parallel to the axis of said gear into the path of rotation of said projection for engagement thereby, whereby a partial revolution will be imparted to said cam gear to efiect meshing engagement with said pinion, and means operatively associated with said cam gear operable to return saidmember to its original posi- .engagement when said portion is presented toward said driving member, a projection operatively. associated with said driving member, a finger pivotally supported on said wheel adjacent said mutilated portion thereof for movement in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said gear into the path of rotation of said-pro-- jection, whereby said finger may be engaged .by said projection to impart partial rotation tosaid wheel for effecting driving engagement thereof with said driving member, and releasable means upon said wheel normally engaging said finger to withhold said finger from the path of rotation of said projection.

5. In a phonograph, the combination with a turntable and reproducer, of mechanism for automatically disengaging said reproducer from the record including a solenoid for initiating the actuation of said mechanism, an electric circuit therefor, a pair of associated arms pivoted to swing relative to each other about different arcs of different radii,.one of said'arms being connectedwith the reproducer totravel therewith and move the other arm, and a pair .of contacts in said circuit mounted on said arms respectively to be brought into position for contacting by the relative movement of said arms as the reproducer moves inwardly toward .the center of the record.

6. In a phonograph, the combination with a turntable and reproducer, of mechanism for automatically disengaging said reproducer from the record including a solenoid for initiating the actuation of said mechanism, an electric circuit therefor, an arm pivoted to swing with the reproducer and havin a pocket on its free end provided with a contact connected in said circuit, a follower arm of shorter length pivoted to swing with said first-mentioned arm with its end extending freely into said pocket, and a contact adjacent to but spaced from the free end of said follower arm, said contact being connected in said circuit and movable to and away from a position for contacting with said first-mentioned contact as said arms are swung about their pivotal mountings.

7. In a phonograph, the combination with a turntable and reproducer, of mechanism for automatically disengaging said reproducer from the record including a solenoid for initiating the actuation of said mechanism, an electric circuit therefor, a pivoted arm connected with said reproducer to move therewith inwardly toward the center of a record, a follower arm pivoted to one side of said first-mentioned arm and of shorter length for causing the follower arm to move with said first-mentioned arm while permitting the limited relative movement therebetween, and a pair of contacts on said arms respectively and connected with said circuit, said contacts being so related as to move toward and away from each other in a radial direction with the swinging movement of said arms and whereby said contacts move radially into alignment for contacting engagement as the arms move inwardly toward the center of the record.

8. A trip mechanism for a phonograph having a tone arm, an electrically actuated solenoid for controlling said arm, and a pair of contacts in circuit with said solenoid for energizing it when closed, one of said contacts being mounted on a pivoted arm connected with the tone arm and the other contact on an associated arm pivotally spaced therefrom and of less length, said associated arm being in engagement with and moved by said connected arm, the difference in the arc of travel of thefirst-mentioned arm with respect to the second-mentioned arm upon the inward swing of the tone arm causing said contacts to be out of alignment when said arms are in ineffective position and moved into alignment I 21.0 for contact when the tone arm approaches the center of the record.

9. In a phonograph, the combination with a turntable and reproducer, of mechanism for:

automatically disengaging said reproducer from the record including a solenoid for initiating the actuation of said mechanism, an electric circuit therefor, a pair of associated arms pivoted to swing relative to each other insubstantially parallel relation about different arcs of different radii, one of said arms bein connected with the reproducer to travel therewith and the other arm being shorter and having its free end engageable thereby for swinging therewith when the reproducer moves outwardly of the record whereby said arms will be maintained in cooperative relation, a contact in said circuit carried by the longer arm, and a contact in said circuit on the shorter arm spaced from thelfree end thereof and from said first-mentioned contact when said arms are swung outwardlygfrom the record and adapted to be moved into position for contacting engagement therewith when the arms approach the center of the record, said arms being free to oscillate relative to: each other until their extreme inward position is reached.

10. In a trip mechanism for a record playing phonograph, the combination with a turntable.

for rotating a record having either eccentric or spiral terminating grooves,'a tone arm carrying a reproducer adapted to follow said grooves, and electrically actuated mechanism for removing the reproducer from engagement with the record, of means for initiating the operation of said mechanism comprising a hooked arm pivotally mounted to move with said tone arm, a second and shorter arm pivotall mounted to one side of said hooked arm and having its free end eX- tending into the hooked portion thereof, and

. 2 electric contact members on the adjacent ends of said arms connected in an operating circuit with said mechanism, said arms and contact members being so positioned relative to each other as to be normally out of engagement during the reproduction of a record and brought into the effective engagement by a reverse action of the hooked arm when the reproducer enters an eccentric groove or by the extreme forward movement of said hooked arm when the reproducer enters into a spiral groove.

11. In a multiple phonograph having a turntable, a cooperating tone arm and a record changing mechanism, a continually rotating shaft, 3, driving member operatively associated therewith, said shaft having a projection, a cycle control member operatively associated with said drivin member, a finger pivotally mounted on said cycle control member on a pivot normal to the axis of rotation of said cycle control member and having a portion movable into the path of movement of said projection, and means operatively connecting said pivoted finger and said tone arm for causing pivotal movement of said finger upon movement of said tone arm into the tripping groove of a record whereby to set in operation said cycle control member.

12. In a multiple record phonograph having a turntable, a cooperating tone arm and a record changing mechanism, a continually rotating shaft, a driving member operatively associated therewith, said shaft having a radial projection, a driven member operatively associated with said mechanism and said driving member, a finger pivotally mounted on said driven member on a pivot normal to the axis of rotation of said driven member and having an end portion movable into the path of movement of said projection, and means operatively connecting said pivoted finger and said tone arm for causing pivotal movement of said finger upon movement of said tone arm into the tripping groove of a record whereby to set in operation said driven member.

13. In a multiple record phonograph having a turntable, a cooperating tone arm and a record changing mechanism, a continually rotating shaft having a driving member attached thereto, said shaft having a radial projection, a driven member operatively associated with said mechanism and said driving member, a finger pivotally mounted on said driven member on a pivot normal to the axis of rotation of said driven member and having an end portion movable into the path of movement of said projection, and means operatively connecting said pivoted finger and said tone arm for causing pivotal movement of said finger upon movement of said tone arm to a certain position whereby to set in operation said driven member.

14. In a multiple record phonograph having a turntable, a cooperating tone arm and a record changing mechanism, a continually rotating shaft having a driving gear attached thereto, said driving gear having a radial projection, a driven gear operatively associated with said mechanism and said driving gear and having a mutilated portion, a finger pivotally mounted on said mutilated gear on a pivot normal to the axis of rotation of said mutilated gear and having an end portion movable into the path of movement of said projection, and means operatively connecting said pivoted finger and said tone arm for causin pivotal movement of said finger upon movement of said tone arm to a certain position whereby to set in operation said driven member.

15. In a phonographic apparatus having a movable record changer mechanism, a movable tone arm and a control mechanism operatively associated with the record changer and the tone arm, a mechanism to initiate the operation of said control mechanism comprising a rotatable 12 member operatively associated with said control mechanism, peripheral driving means on the periphery of said rotatable member, a gap in the periphery of said peripheral driving means, a driving member operatively associated with said peripheral driving means to drive said rotatable member except when opposite said gap, an initiating member operatively associated with said driving member and another initiating member operatively associated with said first initiating member 'and'mounted on' said rotatable member for movement in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of said driving member, said initiating members being out of engagement with each other while a record is being reproduced but being engageable with each other momentarily to initiate the rotation of said rotatable member sufiiciently to cause said driving member to engage said peripheraldriving means on said rotatable member, and means operatively associated with said initiating members and said pickup arm to bring said initiating members into momentary engagement with each other to initiate a cycle of rotation of said rotatable member and thereby to drive the record changer mechanism and move the tone arm.

ANNA'SMALL KOEHLINGER, Executrza: of the Estate of Thomas W. Small,

Deceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file" of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,407,547 Kellogg Feb. 21, 1922 1,465,909 'Iniante Aug. 21, 1923 1,569,062 Ziler Jan. 12, 1926, 1,991,005 Whitman Feb. 12, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 522,610 Germany Apr. 16, 1931 383,341 Great Britain Nov. 1'7, 1932 403,758 Great Britain Jan. 4, 1934 

